Are you eating these foods and drinking these drinks?
Written by: Matt Fitzgerald
Runners need a lot of carbohydrate. Why? Because your muscles are fueled primarily on carbohydrate when you run hard. Thus, sports nutrition experts generally recommend that runners get approximately 60 percent of their daily calories from carbohydrate.
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Improve your ability to relax and work with this yoga pose.
Written by: Sage Rountree
In yoga, we look to strike a balance between effort (sthira) and ease (sukha) in each pose—to find the line between the hard and the soft. The same holds in running. We need to work hard enough to hit our chosen pace, but easy enough to maintain our speed over our chosen distance. It’s a constant negotiation.
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“It’s the long run that puts the tiger in the cat.” – Coach Bill Squires
Written by: Mario Fraioli
At the 1979 Boston Marathon, four runners from the Greater Boston Track Club placed amongst the top 10 finishers in the race, led of course by Bill Rodgers, who broke the tape in 2:09:27.
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High volume doesn’t always have to mean high mileage.
Written by: Courtney Baird
There are no real secrets when it comes to improving your running. To get faster, you run. A lot.
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There’s no disputing the fact that the injury rate in running is very high. But is footwear really to blame?
Written by: Matt Fitzgerald
The injury rate in running is very high. No one knows exactly how high, but whatever the exact number is, it’s a greater number than is seen in virtually any other form of exercise. This unfortunate discrepancy was pointed out in a 1998 study involving triathletes, who, of course, do a lot of swimming, cycling and running. Researchers from Straffordshire University, England, found that among elite triathletes, 62.1 percent of injuries suffered during a five-year period were caused by running, 34.5 percent by cycling, and only 3.4 percent by swimming. Among mid-level triathletes the numbers were 64.3 percent, 25.0 percent and 10.7 percent. And among recreational triathletes there was a bit of a shift toward swimming with a breakdown of 58.7 percent running injuries, 15.9 percent cycling injuries and 15.4 percent swimming injuries.
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Huge homecoming on tap for 800-meter world record holder.
Kenya’s David Rudisha, who on Sunday broke his own world record for 800 meters exactly a week after breaking Wilson Kipketer’s mark which stood for 13 years prior, will be welcomed back to his home country in grand fashion when he returns next week.
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Reigning world 800-meter champion thinking of adding a 1,500-meter title to her resume.
Saying she’s unfazed by the gender controversy that constantly surrounds her, South African Caster Semenya made her future goals in the sport of track & field quite clear: double gold at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
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Use these five simple strategies to make your Rock ‘n’ Roll race-week experience less nerve-racking.
Written by: Mario Fraioli
There’s less than a week to go until race day at the Dodge Rock ‘n’ Roll Virginia Beach Half Marathon and the finger you’re currently using to control your computer mouse might as well be on a panic button right now.
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In the second installment of our new Recovery video series, Sage Rountree explains why it’s important to track your recovery in addition to logging your training. Click here to watch the video.
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Reigning Olympic Marathon champion Constantina Dita will race the Dodge Rock 'n' Roll Virginia Beach Half Marathon this weekend. Photo: PhotoRun.net
The 2008 Olympic Marathon gold medalist will compete in the Dodge Rock ‘n’ Roll Virginia Beach Half Marathon on Sunday.
Interview by: Matt Fitzgerald
Constantina Dita was considered one of the better–but not one of the best–marathon runners in the world before the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Her resume included a victory in the 2004 Chicago Marathon and a personal best marathon time of 2:21:30. But the Romanian-born resident of Boulder, Colo., proved to be the strongest woman on the day of the Olympic Marathon and won the race at the age of 38.
Now 40, Dita is still in the game, with hopes of defending her Olympic title in London in 2012. Her next stepping stone on the way there is Sunday’s Dodge Rock ‘n’ Roll Virginia Beach Half Marathon. She spoke to us by phone shortly before making the eastward journey for her first Rock ‘n’ Roll racing experience.
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Dear Experts,
Last year I weighed in at 274 lbs, was on beta blockers, and had numerous issues with my knees and shoulders. Since September of last year, I have been training regularly, and have made some great strides, including finishing the Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicago ½ Marathon in 2 hours, 45 minutes and 45 seconds. In addition, I now weigh 193 lbs, and I no longer need to take the beta blockers.
Anyway, a majority of my running is on a treadmill. I am not, and I do not ever expect to be, a fast runner. But I think that I can keep a respectable pace on the treadmill. I am able to do my workouts (all but my long runs) with an average pace of 5.7 [mph] on the treadmill, and I hit sustained speeds of 6.2 [mph] for 5 minutes. What I am having a hard time doing is transitioning to running outside. My outside running times are significantly slower, and as a result, I seem to tire out much more quickly. I can run for an hour and a half straight on the treadmill (and longer), but there are times when I run outside that I can’t run for 40 minutes straight.
So how is it that I can make that transition? And how should I pace myself? Should I find a pace on the treadmill, and get used to that pace, and then attempt to do that outside? I will be running the Rock ‘n’ Roll ½ Marathon in Vegas in December, and I really want to be able to break the 2 hour and 30 minute time.
Greg
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Van Orden, Bednosky, win Masters titles.
Bobby Mack and Gina Lucrezi won their first national titles at the USA 10K Trail Championship hosted by the second Continental Divide Trail Race in Laurel Springs, N.C. on Saturday morning.
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Kenyan Julius Kogo takes overall crown at Crim 10 Mile Road Race.
Fasil Bizuneh, a New Balance athlete who trains with Greg McMillan’s Team USA-Arizona group in Flagstaff, won the U.S. 10-mile national championship on Saturday in Flint, Michigan, finishing fourth overall in 47:29 behind a trio of Kenyans.
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Impressive double for American mile record holder.
Alan Webb took a big step down the comeback trail this past weekend, winning the 1,500 meters in 3:41.16 at the 46th Antwerp Athletics Gala Saturday in Antwerp, Belgium.
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Ray Treacy has guided 13 Olympians in 26 years of coaching. Photo: New York Road Runners
Learn more about the man behind Molly Huddle’s recent American Record.
Interview by: Duncan Larkin
Ray Treacy spends most of his time as the Director of Track and Cross Country Operations at Providence College in Rhode Island, where he has been coaching distance runners for 26 years. His long career at the helm of the Friars’ program has been nothing short of illustrious, having coached 134 All-Americans, 11 NCAA individual champions, 142 Big East individual champions and 13 Olympians.
In addition to guiding some of the best collegiate distance runners in the country, Treacy also lends his assistance to a small group of post-collegiate professionals based in his adopted hometown of Providence. A few of those athletes include Ireland’s Mary Cullen, former American record holder and U.S. Olympian Amy Rudolph, New Zealand Olympian Kim Smith and former Notre Dame standout Molly Huddle, who broke Shalane Flanagan’s American Record in the 5,000 meters on Friday night in Belgium, running 14:44.76.
Competitor.com caught up with Treacy last week before Huddle’s record-setting run and learned the secrets to his star pupil’s recent success.
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